Tender is the Night

I have confused feelings after reading this novel, because I did not fully understand the character of Dick and his plans for future, his real dreams. I think he cannot get what he wants: love of Rosemary and therefore peace and happiness in life. He lost his wife, a prestigious job, so then forgotten by his former friends, he exists lonely on New York.

The novel was written after the First World War, so "Lost Generation" depicts the time of life after the war. People, having gone through the nightmares of war, did not attach importance to capitalist values. The story shows us the character (Dick Driver) who does not feel part of society, because it does not accept him. His self-confidence and friendliness turn into sarcasm and rudeness towards everyone. Dick becomes increasingly embarrassing in social and familial situation. Money and financial situation have become more important than feelings of a person.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896- December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, short story writer and screenwriter. He was best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age- a term he popularized. Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York. He attended Princeton University. In 1917 he joined the United States Army during the First World War. During his lifetime he published 4 novels, 4 story collections. and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of 20th century.

Dick Diver- a promising psychologist

Nicole Diver- his beautiful wife

Rosemary Hoyt- a young American movie star

Abe North- a close friend of Dick and an alcoholic

Tommy Barban- somewhat of a barbaric anarchist

Jules Peterson-a black man

Dick and Nicole Diver area couple who rent a villa in the South of France. Dick wants to make a brilliant career in the field of psychiatry. He is working during the First World War in one of the clinics. Rosemary Hoyt, a 17-years-old actress, and her mother are staying in the nearby resort. She becomes infatuated with Dick and also becomes close to Nicole. Dick toys with the idea of having an affair with Rosemary. She senses something is wrong with the couple. The story becomes complicated when Jules Peterson, a black man, is murdered in Paris and ends up in Rosemary's bed at the hotel, a situation which can destroy her career. Dick moves the body out of the room to cover up any implied relationship between Rosemary and Peterson. Dick is offered a partnership in a Swiss psychiatric clinic. After his father's death he travels to America for the burial, and then to Rome in hopes of seeing Rosemary. They start a brief affair, which ends abruptly and painfully. Dick gets into an altercation with the police, and Nicole's sister helps him to get out of jail. Dick cannot be the same person after such a problem. Dick and Nicole's marriage breaks down when he becomes alcoholic and pines for Rosemary, who is now a successful Hollywood star. Nicole becomes increasingly aware of her independence; she distances herself from Dick. She enters into an affair with Tommy Barban. At the end Dick and Nicole divorce, she marries Barban.